Abide Women's Ministry of The Foothills Church

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Welcome to asweabide.com. My name is Joani Wilson. My husband and I are the Senior Pastors at The Foothills Church in Gilroy, CA. It has been our privilege to serve the people of The Foothills for over 25 years. I love God, I love His Word and I love His people.
I want to invite your comments, questions and stories of victories (please note that comments posted on the blog are public for all to see.) Feel free to email me abide@thefoothillschurch.org with any questions and to be added to my email list.

Recent Posts

What is something that creeps you out? Mine is walking through dark places, especially a dark church. This has been a thing for me since I was a little girl. Not my dad though.

My mom was a waitress in the evenings and I spent a lot of evenings in his care. As the pastor of our church, it was not unusual for my dad to go to the church to pick something up. Not sure why, probably to save money, but he never felt the need to turn the lights on, and we didn’t have any security lighting. So there I was, trailing behind him in the dark like a little duckling trying to keep up because the dark was creeping me out. Funny thing though, as long as I was with him, the dark wasn’t quite so dark.

As I grew up, I sort of forgot about this. Until recently as I was walking though our sanctuary without taking the time to turn on the lights and those memories flashed through my mind, dragging the uneasy feelings with them, along with a sense of melancholy as my dad is gone now. As this silly memory came back to me, I smirked as I thought of how ridiculous that was. Then the Lord spoke to my heart saying, “That silly thing taught you to follow me. You learned how important it is to stay close to your father and keep your eyes on him. It taught you what to do when you are afraid: stay close, and to keep your eyes on me. ”

A sense of peace and purpose rushed over me knowing God is always there and always taking care of me in the dark. I just have to stay close, and keep my eyes on him.

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” Isaiah 43:1-2